The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-09-30
ABBEY OF kLosTERNEueeRe.

The Treasure Room and Imperial Apart
ments-Seated the Throne.
Finally after much waiting and wander
ing up and down along chilly corridors
and great strong staircases worn with the
mOnastic tread of long ages, it occurred
to some of the more commercial menials
that they turn an honest kreutzer. So
one of the more enterprising waylaid a
brother a little more profusely covered
with gold than his fellows, and obtained
permission to show me the objects of
greatest interest. Several servants ar
ranged among themselves to pass me
from hand to hand, to extract and sub
divide the greatest amount of fee. Of
what l saw / will speak briefly of only
the treasure room and imperial apart
ments rarely visited. These treasure
rooms of converts, churches and abbeys
contain objects of greater or less sim
iarity. There are usually among them
the appliances of Catholic church worship
richly adorned with precious stones, the
skull of some saint blazing with jewels.
In this case it was that of st. Leopold,
the founder of the abbey. The collection
is worth many millions of forms, the
principal value being in great diamonds,
rubies, emeralds and sapphires, many of
them embroidered on priestly robes,
themselves precious on account of the
Sanctity of those who once wore
them. These treasure rooms are jealOusly
guarded. You enter by ponderous door
which yields unwillingly to a key as
large as that of the gate of medieval
city. The treasure is ranged round the
room in great cases, each closed with
doors almost as heavy, which, thrown
open, disclose the objects, the most pre-
cious in show cases covered with thick
glass.
was shown the imperial apartments
by an aged daniel, whose soiled apparel
did not correspond With the enormous
wealth of the abbey The novel and
striking feature of her face were two
teeth, which, descending from beneath
the upper lip, projected over the neither
like the tusks OF a walrus. They were
two of the pearls that one time had been
stamens 'twixt the pouted petals of hCC
lips, as now forgotten American poet
has sung There was nothing unusually
remarkable in connection with the apart
ments, except the view across the Dan
ube through the long series of windows
tt lighted them. The polished floors
ere more slippery than a skating rink,
sa14d the walls were ornamented with |
paper or with frescoes or pictures of in
different merit.
At the corner, at the farther end of the |
long suit, was the throneroom, circular,
lofty and imposing. It's decorations |
were Of higher order. The view from
the windows was superb. ] seated my
self on the vacant throne. The witch |
smiled approval. Then, quite unex-
pectedly, she emitted a series of shrill
shrieks that came back in an alarming
volley of echoes from walls and ceilings.
One would have thought it was the cave
of a sorceress and all the demons were
bowling in chorus. Before l had fairly
recovered from my establishment she
turned toward the windows, and, ex-
tending her skinny hand, executed the
gyratory movement of a dervish as she
pointed through each, and repeated me-
chemically and simply the words: Weld
ling, Leopoldsberg, Florisd OFF, Iedlersdorf,
Jedlersee, Stammersdorf, Bisambergan-
genbrum. They were the names of the
hills or towns that were in sight or in the
direction indicated. I looked back after
had parted from her in the corridor.
Her tusks were saving the air as she
dropped the kreutzers l had given her
slowly from one wrinzled palm into the
other. / took draught of the excellent
wine in the abbey eel
airs in an adjoining street. and taking a
asst look at the huge imperial crown of
shining copper that surmOunts the chapel
over, descended the ill and made my
way as hastily as possible across the broad
grassy plain to the landing of the Dan
lbe boat.-Austria Cor. San Francisco
Chronicle.